In hopes to continue its successful non-conference play of the 2013 season, the Mississippi State University Bulldogs took action this past weekend hosting the Missouri Tigers to open conference play.  The Bulldogs fought hard all game long but eventually fell to the Tigers 3-1.
MSU allowed two costly goals in the first half, which gave the team a 0-2 deficit at halftime.  Senior forward Elisabeth Sullivan scored MSU’s first goal in the 78th-minute of the game, but unfortunately, it would be the team’s only goal of the night.
Despite the loss, head coach Aaron Gordon said he could not be more proud of the way his team continued to fight.
“I think we competed hard tonight. Conditions were tough, and unfortunately, our team is ravaged by injuries,” Gordon said.  “I can’t complain with the way we competed.  We fought hard to get back in it, but in the end, I think we ran out of legs.”
The weather conditions were far from ideal as a heavy dose of rain soaked the SEC opener.  The rain came down hard, and Gordon said the conditions made it tough for both teams.
“When it rains like this, it affects everything.  The ball gets a little bit heavier. The field is certainly softer, but it’s heavier so it takes more energy,” he said.  “The conditions make it where it’s real scrappy, and people got to fight for lose balls because it gets away from them in the weather.”
Alongside the team opening conference play, Gordon also made his SEC debut as head coach of the Bulldogs.  Gordon comes from Texas Tech in the Big 12 conference, and he said the playing styles between the two conferences are similar.
“Both conferences are very athletic, and the quality of play is good.  I think the biggest difference is the depth of the SEC in terms of teams and athletes. A lot of teams can flex their muscle in roster size,” he said.
The team played 13 players this past weekend, and six of them were freshmen. 
 Freshman defender Tiffany Huddleston was one of the freshmen that got her first taste of SEC competition this past weekend.  Huddleston played all 90 minutes of the game Friday, and she said she is glad to have her first SEC game out of the way.
“It was much faster, stronger and more athletic than what we’ve been playing in the non-SEC games, and that’s pretty much how I thought it would be,” Huddleston said.
Senior goalkeeper C.J. Winship said she was impressed with the way the freshmen defenders stepped up and played in the SEC opener.
“Every freshman that took a turn on the back line tonight really did well, and I think that’s evident in the score. Because of the rain, things were a little bit difficult, but I really couldn’t have asked for much more out of my freshmen defenders tonight,” Winship said.  
The injury bug has bitten the Bulldogs hard this season, forcing them to play many underclassmen. 
Experience will play a key factor on the team this year.  The Bulldogs have played in seven non-conference games, which allowed many freshmen to play and helped them gain early, valuable experience. Winship said she believes the freshmen are just experience points away from being where they need to be.
“We have some very talented freshmen on this team.  As soon as they get that experience, they’ll be more than ready and more than capable of stepping in a playing a big role on the team,” she said.
Gordon also added that playing a lot of non-conference games early in the year helped prepare the freshmen for SEC play.
“In the SEC, it’s either sink or swim, and I think we did a good job,” he said.  “You only get experience if you play.  We may not reap the rewards this year because freshmen are getting to play a lot of minutes, but down the road it will pay dividends.” 
The team now has their first SEC game behind them and looks forward to this weekend as they travel to play No. 20 Texas A&M on Friday and LSU on Sunday.  The Bulldogs also hope to have junior defender Shannen Jainudeen back from a concussion with them before making the trip.